Following the atypically long and cool 2021 vintage which made for some iconic red wines, the Swartland weather seems to have returned to its more usual pattern of hot and dry growing conditions for 2022. The region saw good winter rains and then the return of some heat spikes during verasion from January to March… “intermittent spikes more than heat waves” Chris Mullineux explained, followed by cooler evenings which helped mitigate some of the earlier daytime heat. Generally picked later than average – late February compared to early February due to the later start – the vintage is widely regarded as a great success in the Swartland.

All wines were tasted from Zalto Bordeaux glasses and reviewed over the course of three days.

Mullineux Granite Jakkalsfontein Syrah 2022, WO Swartland, 13.5% Abv.

2.2g/l RS | 5.5g/l TA | 3.67pH

The fruit for the 2022 GRANITE Syrah hails from bush vines planted in the decomposed Granitic soils of the Paardeberg and this wine has become the Single Terroir red most synonymous with gorgeously perfumed aromatics, freshness and length. These characteristics are mainly driven by each vine having to work intensely hard to get to the water source seated deep within the GRANITE soil structure. The GRANITE Syrah was hand-harvested on 21st and 22nd of February 2022 with yields of five tons/ha, which translated to 28HL/ha. In the cellar, the whole bunches benefitted from the protection of a cool early morning picking and were put into 500L French oak open top fermenters. Once crushed by foot, the indigenous fermentation process started, and very gentle extraction was achieved by doing punch-downs by hand. To accentuate the refined tannin structure of its GRANITE terroir origin, the wine was given skin contact for 28 days before being gravitationally drained and then pressed back into the same vessels for malolactic fermentation and further maturation. The 2022 was matured for 12 months in French oak 500L barrels of which 50% was new, followed by 10 months in 2000L Foudre. Once bottled, the wine was aged for another eight months before it was released.

Made with fruit from a warmer vintage, Chris Mullineux says it was a ripe year but certainly nothing unusual for the Swartland – certainly more normal than the 2021 vintage conditions. On these deeper granitic soils, the vines grow larger, and the canopies are bigger and wider, shading the fruit, resulting in a more perfumed offering. The aromatics are certainly wonderfully fragrant and lifted with exotic notes of violets, lavender, and potpourri spice with a lovely melange of red and black berry fruits, pink musk, red peppercorns, and subtle orange rind hints. The palate is sleek and super elegant, pithy even, with plenty of dry extract, a chalky tannin grip and a harmoniously intense finish. Plenty of richness and creamy elegance but perhaps a little less taut, severe, and mineral than this vineyard normally presents in youth. Another very pretty expression. (405 cases produced)

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Mullineux Iron Kasteelsig Syrah 2022, WO Swartland, 13.5% Abv.

1.6g/l RS | 5.1g/l TA | 3.82pH

Grown on the IRON soils of the rolling red hills surrounding Malmesbury, this organic vineyard is well-established on the clay and gravel-rich Koffieklip soils that are good at holding water. The soil-bed becomes generous during primary growth in the spring, but then around veraison time the clay in the soils stops releasing moisture and the vine compensates during this quick ripening phase by making the smallest grapes of the three terroirs. This factor, combined with the lush canopy and medium-thick skins of the berries play a very important role in the natural construct of a Syrah with round tannins, an incredible complex palate and deep fragrance. The grapes were hand-harvested on 8th of February 2022 while the morning was still cool and yielded 4.5 tons/ha, which translated to 22HL/ha. In order to accentuate the IRON terroir, the grapes were foot-stomped as 100% whole- clusters into open top 500L barrels where hand punch downs took place to encourage natural and very gentle extraction. The fermentation cycles completed with indigenous yeast and after a further four weeks of maceration, the wines were racked and pressed to these original vessels for its maturation period. This wine was aged for 12 months in French oak 500L barrels, of which 50% was new, followed by another 10 months in 2000L Foudre and eight months of aging in bottle before its release.

The first thing I noticed about this wine is the incredibly small production volume, a mere 210 cases in 2022, which Chris confirms is the smallest production volume to date. Much of this was due to very strict grape selection as well as the vineyard still struggling in general to come to terms with the hangover and long-term effects of years of drought. Like the Granite Syrah, this cuvee shows a slight departure from is normal broody, earthy, meaty, bloody Northern Rhone style. Instead the aromatics are gracefully peppery with layers of damson plums, black berries, violets, lavender, and red bramble berry notes. Finally, after time in the glass, a slight undertone of blood and iron emerges, but they are by no means as dominant as normal, with the palate decidedly round and fleshy, layered with blue and black berry fruits, sleek integrated acids, and delightfully firm, polished tight grained tannins. The finish shows hints of salty liquorice, coffee bean, a subtle sapidity, and chargrilled charcuterie nuances. A rather riper, more elegant expression of the Iron cuvee that retains a critical amount of its archetypal old-world charm.

(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Mullineux Schist Roundstone Syrah 2022, WO Swartland, 14% Abv.

1.8g/l RS | 5.2g/l TA | 3.80pH

These very special and characterful grapes grown on the Schisty slopes of the Kasteelberg or “Castle Mountain”, showcase the Mullineux’s estate Roundstone, and its tremendous ability to define Syrah grown on SCHIST soils. These rocky soils limit vine size and so the clusters and individual grapes in turn remain smaller with a higher skin to juice ratio, offering denser, more brooding tannins. The grapes were hand-harvested between 14th and 15thof February 2022 with a yield of 4.3 tons/ha, which translated to 26HL/ha. Safeguarded from the high-summer Swartland sun in February, the SCHIST Syrah was picked during the cool morning and the 100% whole bunches were immediately foot-crushed into 500L barrels. Only natural yeasts took the wine through its fermentations and only hand plunging were performed for completely gentle extraction – just enough to keep the cap wet. After four weeks it was racked and pressed back to the same open top barrels. This completed the tannin development and allowed its dark perfume to flourish. The SCHIST Syrah 2022 spent 12 months in 50% new and 50% 4th fill 500L French oak barrels and then another 10 months in 2000L Foudre before being bottled unfiltered.

The production quantity of the Schist 2022 was closer to the long-term average with 482 cases produced. The aromatics are wonderfully seductive and sophisticated, showing complex red and black berry fruit notes, violets, rose petals, fynbos, white pepper, before subtle hints of salted caramel, black berry compote and vanilla pod spice. Often a wine that is very showy in its youth, this 2022 has a certain purity, elegance, and classicism to it, but as Chris points out, also “a certain appealing Rhoney wildness that you don’t always find on the Schist”. An incredibly balanced and complete wine, there are complex notes of fynbos, garrigue, dried herbs, black berries, cured meats, and black peppercorns tempered with a seductively generous vanilla pod spice. This wine is a pyramid of elegance, power, and precision, with its massive textural stone construction blocks just slotting into one another that little bit more tightly and more precisely than with the Granite or Iron cuvees, revealing an architecturally detailed wine with a very impressive fruit-acid balance, flavour purity, and a notable palate intensity. A very serious and accomplished benchmark effort for the vintage.

(Wine Safari Score: 98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Mullineux Wines are imported into the UK by Liberty Wines and are available retail on request from specialist South African merchant Museum Wines.